COMMENTS: on my budget gamer setup

[BIZWIZ]

I intend to put together the following:

E8500 cpu
biostar tpower p45 mobo
4 gigs 800Mhz ram
7200.11 500gb HDD
hd 4850 gpu/ 8800gt gpu
coolermaster 600 w sli ready psu
iball workhorse cabinet


Need comments, guys......i'm new to this

need:

cooling solutions
will it be able to play crysis at any reasonable level of fun?
better gpu options at same pricepoint
will the psu be enough to support crossfire/SLI later?




read that the e8500 c2d has been o/c ed on this board to an insane 6 gigs+!!


looking fwd to an early reply

 

[darksied]

You can't sli a Radeon Video Card and a Nvidia Video Card. SLI refers to two Nvidia Cards. You could also crossfire Radeon Cards.

That should easily play Crysis.

I can play Crysis on High (and get about 50fps) with:

2GB of DDR2 Ram 800MHz
Q6600 Stock Speeds
8800GTS
500W PSU
GA-EP45-DS3L

Nvidia will probably be coming out with a new generation of video cards soon. The 8 series is aging.

 

[BIZWIZ]

Tks. I heard the q6600 is also being taken off for the new 6 cores and larrabees planned. you have a single non-sli-ed gpu. Will 600w be enough for a crossfire/ sli install?

ps...i meant that i can go either the crossfire or the hybrid sli/sli way, not use both together!!

pps which mobo?!

 

[techgeek]

You can't sli a Radeon Video Card and a Nvidia Video Card. SLI refers to two Nvidia Cards. You could also crossfire Radeon Cards.

That should easily play Crysis.

I can play Crysis on High (and get about 50fps) with:

2GB of DDR2 Ram 800MHz
Q6600 Stock Speeds
8800GTS
500W PSU
GA-EP45-DS3L

Nvidia will probably be coming out with a new generation of video cards soon. The 8 series is aging.

First off, I don't think that he was intending on running an ATI card with a nVidia card, he was saying that these were his options. One or the other not both. Which states his price/performance preference.

Secondly nVidia has released their next generation of cards known as the GTX2X0 (GTX280, GTX 260), but I'm betting those are a little more than he wants to spend.

At the OP, I would say that your choice of the HD4850 is a good one. In my opinion, you can't get a better performer in that price range. Maybe the 9800GTX, but I personally would stick with the 4850.

The choice of chipset is a good one as long as you have no intention of CrossFire in the future. It's not impossible to run CrossFire, just that will lose around 10% performance over a comparable X48 system. As for the manufacturer choice, I have no experience with BioStar. I usually try to stick with Tier 1 manufacturers like ASUS or GigaByte.

I would also pick a more reputable manufacturer for you PSU. CoolerMaster makes great cases, but there not a premium PSU maker. I would go with something from Enermax, PC P&C, or Corsair.

Even though you don't specify that your are getting a Seagate drive, the 7200.11 gives it away. I personally love my Seagate 7200.10 drive, but I have read some bad things about the gen 11 drives. They seem to fail quite often. I don't have personal experience with this, but I have read several users comments. So if you have the option, I would stick with the older gen drives.

 

[BIZWIZ]

tks. i read some good reviews about the .11s , but i guess they were biased. They claim a whoppin' 1million hrs + mtbf! Should i go the raptor way or go WD caviar blue/black. which will be lesser?

Can i last with stock cooling? I guess i won't o/c too much, maybe try for 3.5-4 gigs. I am getting 2 X 120mm fans in the case. Liquid cooling is out for me!

 

[techgeek]

Reviews unfortunately are done over a short period where it's unlikely to fail during that time. The IBM DeskStars got very good reviews too. That's not to say that the gen 11 drives are that bad, just that I have read too many bad user experiences with them. Every drive has it's failures and DOA's, but I have read too many for this series of drives. As for WD, I have had pretty good luck with them. Not sure if a Raptor is worth the money. Sure their fast, but are they going to improve your computing experience enough to justify the price.

As for overclocking an E8500 on stock cooling, I don't have personal experience with this processor. You may be able to hit 3.5GHz with stock cooling, but common sense tells me you won't hit anywhere near 4.0GHz with stock cooling. I would suggest for anything above stock clocks, get a decent aftermarket cooler. It just isn't worth sacrificing stability for a few hundred MHz on stock cooling. I use a ThermalRight Ultra 120 eXtreme, excellent cooler, pretty expensive.

 

[bobwya]

tks. i read some good reviews about the .11s , but i guess they were biased. They claim a whoppin' 1million hrs + mtbf! Should i go the raptor way or go WD caviar blue/black. which will be lesser?

Can i last with stock cooling? I guess i won't o/c too much, maybe try for 3.5-4 gigs. I am getting 2 X 120mm fans in the case. Liquid cooling is out for me!

Don't you believe it... I had a brand new 7200.11 1TB with aquaplaning heads after about 8 weeks usage... So the Seagate are probably cutting a few corners in the ol' QC department! Have you considered Samsung perhaps as I believe there F1 drives are a smidgen faster (slightly cheaper, 2 year less warranty)??

Don't bother with the Raptor series. SAS 15K drives are the next step up from a latest gen. 7200 rpm SATA drive. That would cost you a fair bit more for the controller card of course. Drive prices are comparable with the Raptors ($/Gb).

Bob

 

[darksied]

Tks. I heard the q6600 is also being taken off for the new 6 cores and larrabees planned. you have a single non-sli-ed gpu. Will 600w be enough for a crossfire/ sli install?

ps...i meant that i can go either the crossfire or the hybrid sli/sli way, not use both together!!

pps which mobo?!

Ya, I wasn't telling you to get what I had. I was just giving an example of a computer that could run Crysis fine.